Insurance giant State Farm recently settled an $8 billion civil racketeering lawsuit before it got to court.
The suit alleged a conspiracy by the insurance agency to put a judge on the Illinois Supreme Court to gain a favorable ruling in a case 20 years ago.
There's been a lot of media attention on the high-profile arrests of executives for a variety of white collar crimes, including securities violations, tax evasion and violating laws regarding United States sanctions.
What's happening? Has the executive class of some of the world's biggest corporations suddenly gone rogue?
Drug diversion programs work.
Putting a defendant in jail for a lengthy sentence over a drug crime is ultimately more expensive and less productive than diversion programs. In fact, if just one out every 10 defendants eligible for diversion programs were put into one of those programs instead of locked behind bars, the country could save $4.8 billion dollars.
The instant the old year draws to a close and the new year begins, a lot of people start thinking about their tax returns. It's only natural. For many people, their anticipated tax refund represents a chance to get caught up on bills and maybe afford a few luxuries.
The other reason many people start thinking about their taxes is that they become stressed over the whole process of filing -- particularly if they own a small business or work as an independent contractor. Even people whose tax returns aren't complex often feel intimidated by the whole tax process. This is how an entire industry evolved to file their taxes for them -- despite the fact that there are many free programs available online that will do the job.
Restitution is designed to compensate the victims of a crime for their financial losses as much as possible. It's commonly ordered when someone is convicted of a financial crime, like embezzlement or fraud.
Restitution can't be negotiated or lowered, because it's not seen as a punishment so much as it is a debt that is owed to the victim. It also cannot be discharged through bankruptcy, so it's one debt that will literally follow you forever until it is repaid.
Let's be really clear about this: You cannot lie to a federal agent. If you do, you will most likely be caught, tried and convicted of making false statements, which is a crime under Title 18, United States Code Section 1001.
It doesn't matter if you don't realize that lying to investigators is a crime. It doesn't matter if the investigators lie to you first. You absolutely cannot do it and hope to avoid serious trouble.
A national bomb threat led to wide-spread building evacuations throughout the country.
The email highlights just how easy extortion scams are to pull off on the internet. It also shows how easily authorities can identify suspects.
Florida is on track to have a historically low number of reported crimes -- the lowest in 47 years.
So, why are the prisons still so full?
A doctor in Illinois was recently convicted of health care fraud, identity theft and lying about the delivery of medical treatment in a case involving $3.5 million worth of fake operations.
The 65-year-old doctor was a pain management specialist and the owner of a Chicago medical center. From 2005-2009, he also scammed insurance companies out of at least $783,000 -- his negotiated fees for numerous surgeries that he never actually performed. Prosecutors were able to prove that he not only ordered his staff to send insurers the bills for the fake surgeries but also falsified patient information on at least two occasions. When he found out that investigators were looking at him, he instructed his billing director to "purge" the files on various patients and lie.
Have you ever heard of something called the Butterfly Effect? The idea is that small actions can have large and unpredictable consequences over a long period of a time. The concept is often illustrated by saying that the flap of a butterfly's wings at the right moment can ultimately lead to a hurricane in some far-off land in the future.
A drug conviction for possession when you're young and in college is similar to the flap of that butterfly's wings. If it's your first charge, the prosecutor may very well offer you a plea bargain that allows you to escape jail and move on with your life.
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